


June 13-14th, New Mexico

by Julesin



Series: Runaways, or That Feel When Multiverse Theory is Confirmed Canon [5]
Category: Everyman HYBRID, MLAndersen0, Marble Hornets, Tribe Twelve
Genre: But no one ever ships Michael and Evan???, Gen, Mentions of Violence, Okay question: everyone ships Patrick and Habit, The addition of Michael, whats up with that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 02:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12355569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julesin/pseuds/Julesin
Summary: Evan looked down at the ground for a moment, then took a deep breath, squeezing Vincent's hand. "Habit dismembered Michael's little brother with a chainsaw after torturing him for hours."A collective wince went through the whole room, and Evan's eyes closed.





	1. Michael

When Tim shut the door, everyone looked up, eager for information. He'd been out there for longer than usual, meaning Damien had most likely shown up, and that meant there was news of some sort. It'd been a few days since their last contact, and they were all ready to know what they’re goddamn goal was.

"Okay, so we've got a couple of things," Tim started, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Jay. "This," he held up a wad of bills, "and this." A piece of paper with something scrawled sloppily onto it. 

"Where'd you get that?" Jessica wondered, leaning over and pointing to the cash. 

"Damien gave it to me," he explained. "Money for food and gas. They said they didn't want us spending our personal money on things they told us to do."

"And the address?" asked Jay. 

Indeed, it was an address. Brian leaned forward, peering at the paper Tim held up. It was in New Mexico, and most likely only a few hours away. 

"There's someone Damien wants us to pick up, someone they want to join our group. He's at this address, and knows we're coming, so we can pick him up tomorrow."

"Well?" Noah asked grumpily. "Who is it? Spit it out."

Tim rolled his eyes. "Damien said you three," he gestured to Noah, Evan and Vincent, "would know who he was. His name is Michael Andersen."

Evan's eyes went wide, and his whole body tensed. Vincent slid a protective hand over his, and they both looked ready to run at the slightest hint of danger. Noah just closed his eyes and sighed wearily. 

"Oh. Great."

"Y-you're kidding," Evan muttered, looking like he was about to break down. "He can't- how?"

"They said you had bad history with him."

“That's putting it very lightly," Noah cut in, tone almost bored, with just the slightest hint of anger. "No offense." Evan nodded slightly, looking a little off put. 

"What happened? Damien wouldn't tell me."

Evan looked down at the ground for a moment, then took a deep breath, squeezing Vincent's hand. "Habit dismembered Michael's little brother with a chainsaw after torturing him for hours."

A collective wince went through the whole room, and Evan's eyes closed. He looked like he was reliving a painful memory, which was most likely true. 

"W-well," Tim began, pulling all eyes in the room to him instead of Evan. "That explains why Damien said he was fragile and scared. There is another thing, though. Someone else will also be joining us in California, someone named Stan."

Noah sat up, interested. "Stan Frederick?"

Tim shrugged. 

"That's the only Stan I know in this field. If it is him, then...well, maybe we have a shot at this after all, whatever it is."

"Who is he?" Brian asked, tired of that question and wishing people would just get out with it and stop being dramatic. 

"Another one. He was followed by, uh, The Administrator, the- Big, Tall and Ugly, he tormented Stan for a lot of his childhood. Until he was like...17, or some shit. Then he vanished off Youtube, only reappearing when he was in his late 20s. By that point, he'd apparently been Slender-free for years."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"He'd gotten rid of him. The Tall Man. He was gone. Stan was fine. ...Sort of."

"That's...possible? What do you mean, sort of?"

"Well, given that the tall asshole did show back up during his second stint with a camera, it's likely he wasn't actually free of him, but just had hit a lull. Maybe Slendy was busy or something, who knows. Anyway, he started calling himself a 'Signal Disruptor', and would go out to meet people who were kind of dealing with the same shit, being stalked by different monsters, and he'd help them."

Evan nodded. "We considered going to him at one point, but...well. By then we were a little too far gone."

Noah glanced at him, eyes pained, then returned to his story. "Anyway, I contacted him. I'm pretty sure Michael did, too, he was pretty popular among us tormented souls. Then he started dealing with his own shit, you know. Past come back to haunt him, or whatever. I never got to the end of his channel because by that point I was pretty, uh, busy, but he did come out to Florida one time to actually knock on my door and make sure I was okay. I was kind of an asshole, but understandably so."

"So he's got experience. He might be a big help." Jay looked excited, but Noah's next words made his small smile vanish again. 

"Yeah, well, like I said, I never got to his last video, but I know it was posted a while ago, and he hasn't been heard from since. To be honest, it's kind of a relief to hear he's still alive, but given what he was going through by the end there, I don't know how much help he'll be. He might be just as bad off as we are."

Silence reigned as everyone took that in. As it stood, regardless of what they were like or what they'd dealt with, their group was getting two new members. It would be weird to have more people after almost a month of just the eight of them. Maybe it would be good, though. To get some new faces.

Eventually, they decided to head to bed, given that they would need to start early to pick up Michael and then find a hotel. As half of the group departed for the other room, Brian climbed into one of the beds, not really caring who he shared with tonight. He, Alex, Jay and Tim had been swapping around, trying to make sure no one got anybody else more than the others. It was a bit silly, but at least he didn't have to deal with Alex kicking him off the bed every night. 

Tim shuffled in next to him, arms tucking around Brian's middle. He hummed quietly as Jay and Alex settled into the other, and Brian responded with a sigh. 

Tomorrow would be interesting. 

: ~ :

Shutting the door behind him and giving Alex a little wave, Brian started towards the driveway. It wasn't a very big house, but it looked relatively old, and like it hadn't been lived in for years. That was most likely true; Damien had apparently reported that Michael was alone, and had been for a while. 

He headed up the walkway, taking a deep breath before knocking three times on the old oak door. There was no response, and he waited about thirty seconds before knocking again. Still, nothing, and he turned back to shrug towards the cars. Maybe they had the wrong house. Damien could always have screwed up the address. 

Then the door opened. 

He turned back to see a brown eye peering through the cracked door, thin and distrusting. He cleared his throat before asking, "Are you Michael?"

A nod.

"Oh, that's good." He looked back and gave Noah a thumbs up, which the other man returned before turning back to tell Alex and Jessica. "I'm, uh, I'm Brian. You know someone named Damien, yes?"

Another nod and a quiet, cracking voice. "Are you one of the people they said were coming for me?"

"Um, yes? I think? They told us to come pick you up, so I assume so?"

Michael nodded again, then closed the door. There was an unlatching sound from the other side as he released the chain, then opened the door wider. 

God, he looked like shit. The huge sweater and baggy jeans he was wearing did little to hide how thin and pale he was, and his eyes were dark and haunted. He seemed to naturally hunch in on himself, making him look smaller than he actually was. His face was gaunt, like the rest of him, but somehow more ghost-like. Brian had a feeling he hadn't eaten or slept properly, or at all, in days. Maybe months. 

"Let me get some stuff," he mumbled, disappearing into the interior of the house. It looked like an average home, albeit one that was a little run down. The paint was chipping, there were holes in the plaster, and the banister of the stairs looked about ready to fall off. The stairs themselves creaked loudly as Michael hurried back down them with a small bag. "Ready." Everything he said was in a quiet, scared murmur, like he hadn't used his voice in a while. 

Brian led Michael back down the driveway, towards Noah's car. Putting him with Vincent and Evan was the last thing any of them wanted right away, before they had a chance to tell him some things. A panic attack was the last thing they needed on their hands. 

Alex shifted over to the far side of the car, letting Brian squeeze into the middle. Michael climbed in as well, pressing himself to the car door after it was closed. This wasn't really necessary; he was so thin that he barely took up any room, which just made Brian even more worried. He looked like Jay had at his worst, barely there at all, and Brian made a silent vow to make sure he ate as well as possible from here on out. 

"Hey there, champ," Noah chirped to the back seat as he started the car, and Jessica hit him lightly on the arm before turning over her seat. 

"Excuse him, he's an ass. I'm Jessica. That's Alex, and our jerk of a driver is Noah. I assume you've met Brian?"

Michael nodded silently, glancing to the man sitting beside him shyly. Brian gave him a smile, but he just looked away, gazing out the window. 

Jessica shifted back into her seat after sharing a worried glance with Brian, and the car was silent for a while. Eventually, Michael was the one who broke it. 

"Is-" He stopped, looking down at his hands, which were tucked into his lap. His voice was even quieter as he continued. "Damien told me there were two people in this group that I would know."

"That's accurate," Noah replied in a low pitch. "They're in the other car. And-" He sighed. "Look, Michael... I've been keeping track of your story for a while. I tried to keep up with as many stories like mine as I could, though I kind of fell off the bandwagon a bit later on. I know what happened to your brother."

Michael tensed, eyes still on his lap, but didn't respond. 

"The two people in that other car are the two people you saw in that video. They were both present when your brother was killed, but not in the way you think. The creature that killed him, his name is Habit. Vincent was only doing what he had to to stay alive. The other man with him, the one in the passenger seat of his car, that is not Habit. He may look the same, yes, but I promise you it's not him."

The car fell silent. Michael didn't speak, just kept looking at his hands, his face unreadable. Jessica looked back, expression worried, then met Brian's eyes again. She sighed, then turned back to the front. 

The icy quiet in the car was almost unbearable, but it wasn't long before they reached the next hotel. They all clambered out onto the pavement, Michael holding his bag close like it was the most precious thing in his care. This was probably accurate, given how little he seemed to have in general. 

Brian looked over to the other car, watched Evan and Vincent climb out warily. They stopped, letting Tim and Jay go ahead to join the rest of the group, and spoke quietly, most likely about how they were going to talk to Michael. Tim held out a hand. 

"My name's Tim, this is Jay." Michael took the offered handshake hesitantly, then pulled his own hand back almost instantly when it was over. He was so twitchy, so scared, like a mouse under a cat's gaze. "It's good to have you with us."

Michael nodded, but his eyes went over Tim's shoulder, to Evan and Vincent, and he seized up completely. His head dropped, eyes staring at the ground like it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen, and he shuffled his feet. 

Noah grumbled something under his breath, then called, "Ev! Vince, get over here." The two looked startled, but carefully made their way over, trying not to but definitely staring at Michael. "We gotta get this over with now, or it'll never happen. Michael, this is Evan, and this is Vincent."

Michael's eyes darted up, then back down, hands clenched so tight around the bag he had that his knuckles were turning white. Vincent cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Evan just watched. 

"Um," Vincent stammered. "It's, uh, nice to finally meet you." He held out his hand, but when Michael didn't take it, let it fall to his side. "For what it's worth..." Vincent looked at the ground, face tight. "Never mind."

Michael's eyes shifted up, then moved to Evan, widening when he realized he was being watched. Evan offered him a tiny comforting smile, and it looked like he was about to return it, but at the last minute he ducked his head down again, blinking rapidly. 

Noah sighed. "Alright, let's get some rooms. Evan, Vinnie, you get your own room now. Michael, you okay bunking with me and Jessica?"

Michael gave an almost imperceptible nod, his eyes still on the ground. 

Everyone followed Noah inside, Michael taking up the rear. Brian held back to walk beside him, and Michael relaxed a tiny bit. 

"By the way," Brian murmured, making Michael finally lift his head up properly to look at him. "Did you recognize me at all? Me, or Alex, or Jessica? Or, well, do you?"

Michael shook his head. 

"Did you ever watch Marble Hornets?"

Another confused shake. 

"Oh." Well. Someone that didn't know their history. If Brian was being honest, it was a nice change of pace. Michael didn't have any preformed opinions of them, wouldn't have a, well, a favorite character, he supposed. 

Wouldn't have any trust issues for them specifically beyond the norm. 

He smiled, and Michael seemed to calm down a bit more. They followed the others upstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I  
> Love  
> This  
> Boy
> 
> Michael  
> is so important to me  
> I dont know why but I adORE HIM


	2. Patrick

The sound of a door closing came from outside, and Jessica finished drying her hair quickly before pulling her jeans back on. She exited the bathroom and found Michael, still sitting on the edge of the bed, but now alone. 

"Where'd Noah go?"

He looked up, startled, then looked away again, face a bit red and hands twisting together uncomfortably in his lap. She raised an eyebrow, then remembered she wasn't wearing a shirt, and rolled her eyes. 

"Oh, come on," she teased, tossing her old shirt onto the bed she and Noah would be sharing. "They're just boobs. You've seen those before, right?"

He shook his head, eyes still averted. 

"Oh. Uh, sorry." She tugged a new shirt and bra out of her bag and pulled them on. "I'm decent now."

He glanced up again, still a little bit red, then gestured towards the door to the other rooms with one hand. "Went to talk to the others."

She nodded and laid down on the bed, tugging her old shirt out from under her and lazily tossing it towards her bag. Driving constantly was a blessing and a curse. A curse because cars were cramped and uncomfortable, a blessing because it meant they weren't brutally killed by monsters. 

Now that she thought about it, more of a blessing. 

Michael cleared his throat, obviously wanting to talk but not sure how to start. He seemed generally kind of awkward and anxious, which she was used to after having to deal with Jay and Alex for so long. She took pity on him and sat up slowly, so as not to startle him, then spoke as quietly and as gently as she was able. "We should talk."

Michael looked scared, which she understood. 'We need to talk' was never a good sentence to hear from anyone, and the phrase even struck anxiety in her. Still, they did need to talk, so she swung her legs over the side of the bed so she could face him. 

"I know how...well... This is probably pretty terrifying. Thrust into a situation where you have to rely on others, others that you barely know, for your own survival. It's awful. I get it." She paused, letting him nod quietly. "But you trust Damien, right?" That got another nod. "Do you think they would send you to us if we weren't safe?"

He hesitated, then slowly shook his head. She smiled, and he almost did back. Someday, she hoped, he'd actually be able to show happiness. 

"Now, I know how scary it can be, to be around someone who's hurt you. To look at them and see the pain they've caused you so plainly. To look at them and know that it wasn't them, even though they're standing right in front of you. Brian tells me you don't know our story, with Jay, Alex and Tim. The five of us have a lot of history, but all you need to know right now is that...Alex? A long time ago, he tried to kill me. He tried to kill Tim, and Brian. He _did_ kill Jay."

Michael's face twisted into confusion. "But-"

"I know, I know. He looks fine. But in reality, he, Brian and Alex have all died once already. It's a long story. But Alex was a lot different back then. He, Brian and Tim actually were all affected by that monster, the tall man I hear you have experience with?"

Michael shivered, but nodded. 

"He can affect people's minds very easily, as I'm sure you know. He was buried so deep into Alex and Brian's that the only way to bring them back was, to kill them. But now look at 'em. The four of them are all dating, and they care about each other more than they ever did before. They're back to who they were before the Operator attacked them, maybe even better. The Tall Man," she added for clarification, when he gave a questioning look at the name. "We call him the Operator."

Michael nodded, looking unsure. 

"Now, I know how hard it can be to hear, and even harder to actually believe, but Evan?" Michael's eyes shut briefly. "He's not the same person who hurt you. He's not the same person who hurt your brother. The monster who did that has hurt Evan as well, and now uses his body as a tool to do even more horrible things." She tilted her head down to try and look in his eyes. "Do you understand? He's safe. Evan is safe."

Michael met her eyes briefly, then looked down again, swallowing and nodding. 

As she stood he reached out, almost grabbing her arm but stopping just short of it. She waited for him to speak, not sitting back down but not moving away either. He finally took a deep breath and started. 

"I need to tell you something, just to- to put it out there. I'm-" He stopped again, then stood slowly to match her eye level. "I'm not the only one in here."

She raised an eyebrow, questioning. 

He tapped the side of his head with his index finger. "In here. I'm not the only one in here. There's- there's two people in my head." He was speaking quickly now, obviously trying to get it all out. "The other guy- Patrick. His name is Patrick. He, um, he was dangerous, a long time ago, but he's a lot more stable now. He won't hurt anyone unless they threaten me. Er, us, I guess. The body. Um. Yeah." He fell silent, looking away. 

After a moment, Jessica smiled. "I hate to talk about him again, but it sounds like you and Evan are in similar boats, hm?"

He met her eyes again, looking a little surprised. "I- I guess so."

Her smile grew. "Just talk to him. I can even be there, in the room with you, if you'd like. If it would make you feel safer." When he nodded, she started moving away. "I'm going to go downstairs and check out the lobby. It's become one of my hobbies. I'll be right back."

She turned away, heading for the door to the hallway. Before she'd even turned the handle, a voice came from behind her, one that sounded like Michael, but was definitely very different. 

"Jessica, wait."

It was so much stronger, more sure of itself. She turned back slowly. 

Michael was still standing, hands in his pockets and shoulders apart. He was taller than she expected, now that he was no longer curled in on himself anxiously. His sleeves rode up his arms a little, and she could see the beginnings of scars on his wrists. And his eyes... They were so different. His eyes were the same color, but so much deeper, more red than brown, with streaks of brightness through them, no particular color, just bright. 

This wasn't Michael. 

Whoever this was, he stepped forward, holding out a hand. "I figured since he mentioned me that I should just get an introduction out of the way now. It's easier on both of us this way."

She looked down at the hand cautiously, then back up, to whoever now inhabited Michael's body. 

"I'm Patrick."

Taking the hand carefully, she set her jaw. "I had a feeling. So? What's your deal?"

Patrick's hand fell back down, digging into his pocket again. "Do you really want to know all that history?" At her nod, he sighed. "Well, in case you hadn't figured it out, Michael doesn't naturally have, like, multiple personalities. DOD, or whatever it's called."

"DID."

"Whatever. Anyway, I latched onto him when he was five or six, a tiny, just, real small little kid. It wasn't entirely my fault, what happened. I mean, he'd probably have been sent to that mental hospital anyway even if I hadn't, you know, been a violent ass, but whatever. I was real unstable then, hurt people, couldn't really control my violent rages. Over time, that's changed, and at this point, I'm basically a part of Michael. And, if I'm perfectly honest, I like it better this way."

Jessica folded her arms, a little more relaxed due to his exposition. "Okay. But why come out now? Why not when everyone's around?"

"I don't want to cause a panic or anything. That would be particularly not useful to me. But I did want to let you know something. About Habit."

She narrowed her eyes. "What about him?"

"I've known him for a long time. Decades. Centuries. We're kinda similar creatures, so we were, like, colleagues, I guess...? That's the closest word I can think of. We worked together when I was particularly unstable, which was often, because he encouraged my instability just by being nearby. But I know him. I know when he isn't around. And Evan is in control. Just in case you had any doubts."

Any she might have actually had vanished. She had no reason to, but something told her that it was a good idea to trust him. That he was someone she could trust. That he was telling the truth. She nodded. 

"Habit's real obvious about his presence, so I'd be shocked if he was subtle enough not to clue y'all in, but just in case. I'm also gonna talk to Michael about this, make sure he understands, too."

Jessica leaned back against the door, a little more relaxed. "You can talk to him?"

"Yeah. When he's in charge, I'm mostly conscious, which is why I was able to take over so fast. But vice versa isn't true. He can't hear any of this, but I can go into our mindspace and talk to him. It's kind of neat, actually. It's just this like, empty white space or something. I dunno. It's cool." He maneuvered back over to the beds, sitting down calmly, so much more loose than Michael. "I should let him have his body back, anyway. Gimme a sec."

"Isn't it your body, too?"

He thought for a moment, giving her an odd look. "I guess I always just thought about it as Michael's. I'm just, you know. A parasite. A parasite needs a host." With those words, he closed his eyes, and went almost completely still. 

Jessica watched in fascination as the body twitched, expression changing in extremely minute ways as the two people inside spoke (or so she assumed). Several minutes passed, and she was starting to get restless when the eyes opened. They were back to their natural color, and Michael, who she assumed was now in charge, curled in on himself again, adopting his normal posture as he looked at the floor. 

"Sorry about that," he mumbled, and yep, that was Michael. "I didn't know he'd take control like that. Did he say anything weird?"

Jessica smiled, standing up straight and walking back over towards him. "Nah, just rambled a bit. He talks a lot more than you do."

Michael shook his head wearily. "Yeah. I don't know why he feels the need to wear out my lungs like that, but he does it anyway."

Jessica snorted, amazed that Michael had almost made a joke. "He seems like a fun headmate."

Michael gave the tiniest smirk, the most smile-like expression she'd gotten out of him yet, and she counted it as a win. 

"Well, I'm gonna head out now, if you don't need me." When he shook his head, she returned to the door, glancing back to give him one last smile before heading for the hallway. 

She could've sworn he actually smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't @ me about Patrick's oocness (im kidding you can @ me all u want)  
> I have these headcanons about Pat and Habit and their stability and shit but like  
> I won't expand on them here  
> If you wanna know hmu on tumblr, I'm Juliansin there  
> I could talk about Patrick all day  
> (also, if any of you get the really really subtle song reference Patrick makes near the end, you get a virtual cookie)


End file.
